


no matter where you go (you'll never be alone)

by wastelandzbaby



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Body Dysphoria, Bullying, Coming Out, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Dysphoria, Fanboy Peter Parker, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gender Dysphoria, Humor, Irondad Week 2019, Language, Mild Language, No Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, POV Peter Parker, Peter Parker-centric, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Scars, Swearing, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Trans, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Trans Male Peter Parker, Trans Peter Parker, Trans Tony Stark, Transitioning, Transphobia, a healthy amount of fanboying over your famous billionaire kinda-dad, from top surgery lmao, kinda???, talk of unsafe binding, this isn't flash friendly so, trans characters written by a trans author
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 07:24:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18734359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wastelandzbaby/pseuds/wastelandzbaby
Summary: Tony Stark knew, because Tony Stark knows everything, and if Tony Stark just happens to find your deepest secret in the databases whilst recruiting you to fightCaptain fucking Americaby his side, you shut up and let him, because he'sTony motherfucking Starkand you wrote, like,threeseparate essays on him in middle school,one of which wasn't even an assignment.Or, well, maybe that's just a Peter thing.[ aka trans!Tony lowkey adopts trans!Peter ]





	no matter where you go (you'll never be alone)

**Author's Note:**

> ok listen i just REALLY like trans headcanons  
> i'm 15 and trans and really love tony stark so this is basically me projecting onto peter parker and making tony into the trans father figure slash mentor i wish i had  
> also we're ignoring everything from infinity war onward bc i don't like sadness, personally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May comes to a realisation. Tony also comes to a realisation. Peter also also comes to a realisation. Basically, everyone realises shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some warnings for this chapter:  
> \- mild mentions of dysphoria  
> \- mild but repeated discussion of/references to unsafe binding - questionable safety is used in the beginning but quickly rectified  
> \- general discussion of binding & social/medical transition  
> \- transphobia & related bullying  
> \- mentions of dysphoria-inducing afab anatomy (more specifically, peter refers to tony's chest jokingly as his "tiddies" when talking about top surgery)  
> \- swearing

May had always had her suspicions, regarding her niece's strange behaviour.

She'd wear two sports bras under her t-shirts, even in her pyjamas; she'd cut her hair short without asking and get terribly defensive when asked why; she'd started crying when asked to wear a dress to some distant relative's wedding and hadn't stopped until May let her wear a pantsuit instead.

So, to put it lightly, she was concerned, because teenage girls were a lot of things, but she definitely didn't remember ever acting in such a way when she was young.

The conclusion only began forming fully in her head when she found packages in the mail addressed towards "Peter Parker", when the sports bras were replaced with strange vests, and when her niece had come up to her, shaking and teary-eyed from fear, and quietly, kindly, asked to be her nephew, instead.

And she'd smiled as warmly as she could manage and held Peter as close as he'd let her, because she wasn't a monster, and she still loved him.

* * *

Ben hadn't had a long time to get used to Peter, before his passing, but he'd done it to the best of his ability.

He replaced his princesses with champs, called him handsome instead of beautiful, helped him cut his hair so he looked more like a fashionable young man and less like an escaped convict; he gave him hand-me-downs of old flannel shirts and belts and jackets that hung a little too loose on Peter (but still brought smiles to his face), and helped him to replace all his old clothes with newer, more masculine ones (except for a few dresses and skirts that Peter insisted on keeping, just in case his friends ever needed spares).

And at Ben's funeral, Peter had stood by his aunt in Ben's favourite of his new suits _("You look so handsome, champ, the girls in that school of yours are gonna fall head over heels")_ and promised to take care of her.

* * *

Being Spider-Man was fun, yeah, but also really weird, because somehow Peter found he passed better when obscured by bright reds and blues than he ever did when dressed like other boys his age.

If he had to slip out of class real quick to change, he ended up swinging around in his binder, which was kind of very uncomfortable and kind of maybe dangerous and a terrible idea, which was why he'd started keeping old sports bras in his backpack. A sports bra and a baggy hoodie wasn't quite as flattening and complimentary as a binder, but it did the trick, and caused significantly less discomfort when trying to save the day from the world's most D-List villains available.

* * *

Flash Thompson found out, because of course he did - and for all his scientific knowledge and high test scores, the guy sure didn't seem to grasp the very simple concept of being a decent human being, so of course, he made a joke out of it.

It'd started as just a him thing - "Penis Parker" whispered sharply in his direction whenever he ducked into a stall in the changing room, quiet snark whenever he came in using the whole loose-hoodie-and-sports-bra method because he was too fucking tired to deal with the possibility of warping his ribs, aimed glances in his direction whenever some uneducated twat in the back of the classroom brought up the gender binary - but others soon caught on.

Maybe they didn't grasp the context, as nobody outwardly seemed to call him out on his transness, but they caught onto what made him uncomfortable, and used it to their advantage. Peter made a habit out of holding Ned by the wrist as they walked, so the other boy wouldn't try and fight them over it again (since both of them knew the majority would win).

* * *

Tony Stark knew, because Tony Stark knows everything, and if Tony Stark just happens to find your deepest secret in the databases whilst recruiting you to fight _Captain fucking America_ by his side, you shut up and let him, because he's _Tony motherfucking Stark_ and you wrote, like, _three_ separate essays on him in middle school, _one of which wasn't even an assignment._

Or, well, maybe that's just a Peter thing.

But anyway, Tony knew and, being the absolute legend he is, didn't say a word of it to Happy, or Rhodey, or Pepper, or even Peter himself - but he did build a binder into his (new, far too comfortable, worth more than his entire life's savings) spidey-suit without question. The binder was low enough in compression that he could breathe a little freer than usual, and he suspected that if he hadn't, in fact, had a chest, it would be completely undetectable against his skin. There were no seams where it connected to the rest of the suit, and it was made of some special fabric that he didn't know the name of (which probably didn't even exist a week ago, knowing _Tony motherfucking science-prodigy Stark)_ that loosened and contracted with the push of a button, just like the rest of the suit (he even reckoned he could up the intensity of the compression if it was too little, but it seemed to be working well enough and he didn't feel like cracking a rib or piercing a lung, so he resisted that urge).

He didn't mention it to Happy, or anyone he fought, or even really outwardly acknowledge it - until the fight was done, and Tony was right in front of him (with a brand new shiner that reminded Peter of his days on the front of gossip magazines as the Ruggedly Handsome Prodigy Playboy), and Peter couldn't help but wind his arms around the older man tightly in his best hug.

Tony hugged him back, though not nearly as tightly (and a little hesitantly, given the awkward way the billionaire patted his back with one hand), and simply muttered "No problem, Kid."

* * *

 

He'd known Tony for a while - months, maybe? - when he finally worked up the courage to ask the golden question.

To put it frankly, Peter had never met a cis person as well-versed in transness as Anthony Edward Stark. They could try, yeah, but they'd never quite get it just right - but he did, which confused Peter greatly.

He'd comment lightly on making sure he "took off his suit in time", never directly mentioning the binder but saying it in such a tone that Peter understood; he'd carefully dodge around gendered topics when talking about past memories or school events; he even seemed to have his own Spidey Senses for Peter's dysphoria, and would respond to the extra binding and new haircuts and baggier clothing with patient (but still decently Tony-Stark-brand snarky) smiles and casual validations of the teen's gender ("Son" instead of "Kid" was the most common, and Peter's absolute favourite, because it felt so very sincere).

So, like all things Peter does, he very smoothly breached the topic.

They'd been working on his new web fluid in one of Tony's labs (he insisted he only had the one, but Peter swore he'd gone in at least three others around the city on different outings, and _Tony motherfucking billionaire science-prodigy Iron-Man Stark_ wouldn't restrict himself to one location), and the conversation had settled into a reasonably comfortable silence - which Peter broke with a small, "Are you trans too, Mr Stark...?"

Fuck, was that a seamless segue. Absolutely nailed it.

Tony's face had wavered through at least four different emotions that Peter couldn't name with a gun to his head, and he'd turned to face Peter with something like nerves in his eyes - and then, all at once, it'd diminished, and he'd shrugged nonchalantly, smirking. "Yeah, son. Surprised it took a smart kid like you so long to figure that one out."

Peter blinked at him.

The billionaire didn't seem to register his lab-partner's emotional dilemma - or, if he did, he simply didn't think it important - because he challenged Peter's title of Smoothest Segue Known To Man with a sudden "So, about that formula," and began rattling off chemicals that Peter's brain was too stunned to properly register.

* * *

If you'll excuse Peter's French: _what the absolute fuck._

Finding trans friends? Great. Having trans family members? Even greater! Discovering that your _childhood idol-slash-mini-crush who you wrote several essays on, actively edited the wikipedia page for, who had not only hired you to become a pseudo-Avenger but also sorta became your kinda-father-figure along the line,_ is _trans?_ Peter felt like his brain was going to either leak out of his orifices and become one with the floorboards, or simply devolve so severely that he actually just ended up being a spider brain in a human body.

* * *

So, logically, his dumb excited-kid brain decided to abandon all logic, and dedicate its very useful brain-power to theorising over how _Tony terrible-PR Stark_ managed to transition both socially and medically in clear view of the public and yet still end up being the single most successful stealth person Peter had ever encountered.

His brain's dumb theories ranged from "he built special nano-tech robots to replace all his DNA" to "a robot ate his tiddies" to "he's actually a magical space-alien born to bring humanity into a new age of technology" - all of which were well and truly busted when Tony had wiped at his brow with the edge of his t-shirt after a long day of sciencing, revealing completely ordinary top surgery scars.

After Peter had verbally key-smashed in his general direction and flailed embarrassingly, explaining his theories in more ridiculous detail than Tony had ever actually asked for, the mentor had laughed, actually physically doubling over with the force of his own amusement. Peter stood there in stunned silence (face flushed bright red from embarrassment) and watched as _Tony motherfucking Stark_ absolutely howled with laughter at his stupid theories.

After a minute or ten of this wheezing, Tony straightened up, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand, and replied, voice full of amusement; "I just bribed the doctors and surgeons into silence, Pete."

Well then. Now he just felt like an idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some quick explanations!  
> \- tony is The Actual Best at being stealth, hence peter not knowing he's trans.  
> \- as a dumb excitable kid, i relate a whole ton to peter.  
> \- jic anyone's worrying about a few comments made abt tony, there's no shipping between him and peter here. i think i vaguely mentioned peter having a kinda-crush on him in middle school, but other than that, there's nothing.  
> \- i have no idea how the american school system works (i'm british) so won't touch too much on that.  
> \- the joke abt tony being an alien is a really bad comic reference, i'm so sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me about this on tumblr if you're interested!! i'm @lisafrankserialkiller, my icon is thor w/ a bi flag, and i'm 10x more annoying than you so dw abt that!!


End file.
